The Waqf Protection Committee, on Friday, reiterated that the controversial land at Munambam is the property belonging to the Waqf Board.

Althaf, a spokesperson of the Waqf Protection Committee said in Kozhikode that sale of Waqf land is not permissible and hence the sale of the Munambam land by the Farooq College Management Association was wrong.

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The management association of college should answer for the illegal sale of land, he added.

Meanwhile, hearing in the Munambam Waqf land issue that came up before the Waqf Tribunal was adjourned to December 6. An appeal was filed by the Farooq College, Kozhikode, the beneficiary of the reported Waqf deed, against the decision of the Kerala State Waqf Board to enlist the Munambam land as a Waqf property.

Considering the sensitive nature of the case, the judge did not permit the entry of media persons to the court at Eranhipalam in Kozhikode. The state-level Waqf Samrakshana Samiti and the family of Mohammed Siddeeq Sait, who earlier owned the 404-acre land at Munambam, which was later registered as ‘Muhammad Siddique Sait Waqf’ on September 25, 2019, also decided to move the court with a request to implead them in the case.

The dispute dates back to 2019 when the Waqf Board declared the land, sold by Farook College management, Waqf property and registered it in the Waqf register. The sale was also recorded by the sub-registrar’s office. In response, Farook College challenged the Waqf Board’s decision before the tribunal, arguing that the land had been received as a donation. The tribunal will issue its final decision after hearing from all the parties involved.

In this connection, the residents of Munambam, who are facing the threat of eviction from their lands, said all of the families have been staying there over the last many generations and had acquired the land through the due legal process. “It was the Waqf Act of 1995 that has created the issue,” they said.

The Munambam issue started in 2019 with the Waqf Board staking its claim to the land stating that it was the Waqf land that was donated to Farook College in Kozhikode by one Siddique Sait in 1950. In 2022, they were told that they cannot pay the land tax on their properties.

Following this, the Kerala government intervened and allowed them to pay the tax. However, a forum under the banner Waqf Samrakshana Samathi (Waqf protection forum) challenged the move in the Kerala High Court. The High Court then stayed the Kerala government’s decision to allow the protesting families to pay tax. The case is still pending before the high court.